
Book 



.L^S 



No. 1^. 
THE ALLIANCE OF JEIIOSHAPHAT AND AHAB. 

A SERMON 

I'RKACHED OX THK ANXUAL I'Af?T, Al'RlI. 4, IS41, AT fA.'\lBRIDUKrORT. 



BY REV. J. C. LOVEJOY. 



Shouldesl thou lielp ihc ungoiUi/, and lore 
This language was addressed by the 
prophet of God to Jehoshaphat, the king of 
Judah, in reference to his wicked alliance 
with Ahab, king of Israel. Jehoshaphat 
was, in the main, a good man, and an 
upright ruler; but he did not make thor- 
ough work in removing the high places of 
idolatry, and he was prone to form alliances 
with wicked men. The character given ot 
this prince is in these words: — "And the 
Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he 
walked in the tirst ways of his father 
David, and sought not unto Baalim; but 
sought to the Lord (iod of his father, and 
walked in his commandments, and not after 
the doings of Israel." 

Jehoshaphat went, repeatedly, throughout 
all the cities of his kingdom, and attempted 
to reclaim the people from idolatry, and to 
establish justice. He gave the judges ex- 
cellent instructions, saying, " Take heed 
what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but 
fur the Lord, who is with you in the judg- 
ment. Wherefore now let the fear of the 
Lord be upon you; for there is no iniquity 
with the I..ord our God, nor respect of 
persons, nor taking of gifts." Notwith- 
standing these admirable instructions to the 
judges, the groves of idolatry were never 
destroyed during the twenty and Hve years 
of the reign of this monarch. The reason 
probably was, he formed alliances with the 
wicked princes of a neighboring kingdom, 
and his example was in violation of his pre- 
cepts. In one of these alliances, he came 
very near losing his life; and in the co- 
partnership with Ahaziah for mercantile 
purposes, " the ships were broken, and 
they were not able to go to Tarshish." 
There have been a great many ships bro- 
ken, and lives lost by bad alliances. 

Jehoshaphat, it seems, was completely 
taken in by the generous hospitality of 
Ahab. This is the record of their friend- 
ship: " Now Jehoshaphat had riches and 
honor in abundance, and joined affinity 
with Ahab. And after certain years, he 



them that hate the Lord:' — ;2 Cliroii. xix. 2. 

went down to Abab, to Samaria; and Ahab 
killed sheep and oxen for him in abun- 
dance," (I warrant you, a man that could 
rob another of a whole vineyard for the 
sake of a garden of herbs, would not lack 
sheep and oxf^n for his guests,) "and for the 
people that he had with him, and persuaded 
him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. 
And Ahab, king of Israel, said unto Je- 
hoshaphat, king of Judah, Wilt thou go 
up with me to Ramoth Gilead? And he 
answered hin», " I am as thou art, and my 
people as thy people; and we will be with 
thee in the war." Very likely Jehosha- 
phat had been taking large drafts from 
Nal)oth's vineyard, without even inquiring 
where it came from. Jehoshaphat was 
sorely chased in the battle, and came near 
being killed; he escaped, however, and 
returned to his house in peace, to Jerusa- 
lem. "And Jehu, the son of Hanani the 
seer, went out to meet him, and said to 
King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help 
the ungodly, and love them that hate the 
Lord .' Therefore is wrath upon thee 
from before the Lord." 

There is no way by which good men are 
drawn into alliances with the wicked, and 
lend themselves to help the ungodly more 
frequently than by electing such men to 
office. I would by no means lay down any 
set of religious opinions, as the test of a 
man's fitness for ofTlce; but I am certain 
every man whom we elevate to important 
places of power and influence, ought to be 
unspotted as a citizen — a man whose exam- 
ple it is safe to set before the youth of the 
land. 

The very worthy governor of this com- 
monwealth, in his truly excellent proclama- 
tion, under which we this day meet, invites 
us to pray to the " Supreme Ruler and 
Judge," that we maybe so "guided by the 
Holy Spirit, that, taking heed to our ways, 
we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." I 
hope his excellency does not mean to be like 
King Jehoshaphat, uttering excellent things 



■^ .:\^~^ 



T7 <^ 









in a proclamation, and then join hands and 
" help the ungodly." 

I will not suppose, for a moment, that he 
would suggest to the citizens of this State, 
that they should look to the Holy Spirit for 
direction, in the discharge of their public 
or private duties, when he does not intend 
himself to be governed by the clear and 
unequivocal teachings of that Spirit. Can 
the governor of this State, under the in- 
fluence oi' the Holy Spirit, following the 
Word of God, give the influence of his 
office, his character as a Christian and 
as a patriot, for the elevation of a slave- 
holder and a duellist, to the highest office 
in the United States? Let us examine the 
instructions of the Holy Spirit upon this 
subject, and the language of the proclama- 
tion — which I am willing to believe the 
governor wrote, after praying for the as- 
sistance of the Spirit of truth. 

The Holy Spirit says — " He that steal- 
eth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found 
in his hand, he shall surely be put to 
death " — Ex. xxi. 16 — 7iot elevated to the 
highest place of honor and power. The 
Holy Spirit says — "Thou shall not deliver 
unto his master, the servant ivhich is es- 
caped from his master unto thee.'^ Does 
not the governor know, and every one act- 
ing with him, that any slaveholder he and 
they may elevate to ofHce, will use all 
his power, and all the power of this 
nation, at his command, to arrest and 
turn back the escaping slave to the hand 
of his master? Does the Holy Spirit 
teach him to aid in doing that which the 
same Spirit has expressly forbidden? — 
*' Shouldest thou, help the ungodly?" 

The Holy Spirit aflirms — " He that saith 
unto the tvicked, Thou art righteous; him 
shall the people curse, nations shall abhor 
him." — Prov. xxii. 24. Yet an official 
organ of the same party to which the gov- 
ernor of this State belongs, says of a man, 
notorious for fighting duels, gambling, op- 
pression, and other vices, that he is the 
" champion of constitidional right — the 
personation of every public virtue. Our 
adversaries, in reproach, call him the dic- 
tator. We take their words, and will turn 
their reproach to honor. Glorious reward 
of stainless patriotism. Happy homage to 
wisdom and virtue!^'* If that is not say- 
ing to the wicked. Thou art righteous, 
then Nero might have been flattered 
for his humanity, and a Borgia for his 
stainless virtue. But the governor may 

* Defence of the Whigs : Harper & Brothers. 



say that he does not adopt tliis language — ■ 
that he is not responsible for what every 
man may say of another; yes, but if he 
votes, and gives his official inHuence for 
such a man, he underscores with three lines, 
and writes in glaring capitals all that can 
be said of such men. 

And I respectfully, but earnestly, ask 
the governor of this State not to call upon 
its ministers and his fellow Christians, to 
set apart a day for fasting, humiliation and 
prayer — "that labor may receive its just 
reicard — that wealth, and learninp-, and 
talent, may be properly directed, — that a 
love of justice may pervade the hearts of 
our citizens; that all the efforts which are 
made to extend the cause of human free- 
dom, may meet the approbation and re- 
ceive the favor of our Father in heaven." 
I implore the governor not to use such 
language as this, and then give all his 
great influences to a man who lives in per- 
petual violation of every breath of this 
prayer — a man who will follow the ways of 
Balaam, and teach this nation to sin more 
and more. 

The Holy Spirit says — " Wo unto them 
that call evil good, and good evil; that put 
darkness for light, and light for darkness." 
And yet there is one who stands high in 
the estimation of the governor; but I fear 
he has not in this been taught by the Holy 
Spirit — one who says, " two hundred years 
of legislation have sanctioned and sanctified 
negro slaves as property." Can the gov- 
ernor pray for the prevalence of such senti- 
ments as these .'' 

The Holy Spirit makes the following 
record concerning a transaction veiy simi- 
lar to our glowing Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and our subsequent conduct in 
relation to the slaves: " Now when all the 
princes, and all the people, which had 
entered into the covenant, heard that every 
one should let his man servant, and every 
one his maid servant go free, that none 
should serve themselves of them any more; 
then they obeyed and let them go. But 
afterwards they turned, and caused the 
servants and the handmaids, whom they 
had let go free, to return, and brought them 
into subjection for servants and for hand- 
maids. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, 
Ye have not hearkened unto me, in pro- 
claiming liberty, every one to his brother, 
and every man to his neighbor: behold, I 
proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, 
to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the 
famine." Is there not a striking similarity 
between the conduct of these wicked Jew* 



and our own? Did we not, in the Declar-' 
ation of Independence, proclaim freedom 
to all men? When our liberties were vin- 
dicated, did we not seize again the servants 
set free ? And is there no'retribution sleep- 
ing around the throne of eternal justice for 
''^. us? By helping the ungodly, shall we not 
speedily call down that retribution? If the 
Jehoshaphats of Judah continue and renew 
their afTiiatics with the Aliabs, who rob and 
spoil the poor, keep back, by fraud and 
oppression, the hire of the laborer, will not 
the voice of some prophet of the true God 
speedily be heard — "Therefore is wrath 
come tipon you from the Lord.'" " Should- 
cst thou heip<he ungodly?" 

I am certain that many act upon this 
subject as they would not, if they saw 
slavery and duelling in their true light. 
The utter inconsistency of our Declaration 
of Independence with the elevation of a 
slaveholder for the administration of the 
laws and constitution of the country, is as 
glaring as the noonday sun. No possible 
lepresentation of the inconsistency of our 
practice with our professed principles, can 
approximate the reality. 

If it is right to elect a slaveholder to be 
president of the United States, it is right to 
bring him into that place of power with all 
the interesting relations he sustains fully 
represented around him. Now suppose, 
instead of depositing a vote with the name 
of a slavehf)lder upon it, it were necessary 
to take hold by hand and draw the chariot 
of the oppressor to the seat of power: The 
governor, a large part of the clergy, the 
deacons and professors of religion, are del- 
egated to rcjjresent the moral and religious 
State of Massachusetts in this ffreat enter- 
prise. With their splendid barouche and 
long cables, thev go down to the southern 
))lantations, in search of a p.resident for the 
United States. They come, at length, to 
the extensive lands and splendid mansion 
of an American Ahab — sheep and oxen are 
killed in abinidance — they partake of the 
generous hospitality, and when the ques- 
tion is put, " Will you have me to reign 
over you?" the reply of the governor is, 
" I am as thou art, my people as thy peo- 
ple." Around upon this plantation there 
are some fifty or more of those who have 
l)een beaten, and ground, and peeled, all 
their lives. They have labored without 
wages, lived without instruction, and will 
die without hope. The Bible has been 
denied them, and the sanctuary has seldom 
opened to the^jn its doors. W'hen the gov- 
ernor remembers that the gospel has teep 



kept from these immortal beings, by the 
very man whom he and his associates are 
about to crown with the highest civic 
honors, in some trepidation he catches up 
his proclamation, and earnestly exhorts the 
clergy and the deacons to pray to the Ruler 
of the universe, ''that all the efforts which 
are making to extend the gospel of the 
Son of God " may receive his favor. 

That this company may become more 
entirely acquainted with the man they are 
about to choose, they go round over the 
plantation. They tind of his slaves, some 
are worn out with labor; they have been 
blessed with health, and with vigorous 
hands have gathered the harvests of three 
score years. The governor addresses one 
of these aged and worn out laborers: — 
" U'here is the fruit of so many years of 
hard and continued toil? Is this patch of 
land yours?" "Ah, no." " This little cot- 
tage yours? Any thing in the Savings 
Bank for old age?" "Ah, dear me, massa 
governor, all this little house, land, garden, 
every thing belongs to great Massa Ahab." 
The governor looks rather sad; he remem- 
bers that hire kept back by fraud, crieth — 
that that cry enters into the cars of the 
Lord of Sabbaoth. He turns, in his per- 
plexity, to the reverend clergy, and exhorts 
them, in the language of the proclamation, 
earnestly to pray that '' labor maij receive 
its just reward.'^ 

From hearing the complaints of this poor 
old man, the company are drawn by the 
shrieks and cries of distress that come from 
a distant corner of the plantation. They 
here tind a victim of the lash, who tells 
them that in the course of her life, unable 
from bodily inlirmities to perform the pre- 
scribed daily task, she has more than five 
times received forty stripes save one — that 
she has been compelled to give up her chil- 
dren, and they have been carried to a hope- 
less distance from her— that those which 
now remain, have been made orphans and 
she more than a widow by the removal of 
her husband to a more southern planta- 
tion—that her condition and that of her 
family have been such that they have 
often prayed and longed for death rather 
than life— that her eyes have been di- 
rected to the heavens, crying " O Lord, 
how long— how long?" Here the gov- 
ernor turns again to his associates, and 
urges them to"" pray that "the poor, the 
widow and the fatherless may be visited 
in mercy." Among the new and interest- 
ing things seen by Jehoshaphat and his as- 
sociates, they are struck with the variop? 



colors and different complexions and fea- 
tures of the riding generation of this patri- 
archal family. One child especially, the 
very "image and superscription" of his 
dear father, excites unusual interest and 
attention. Then the governor exhorts to 
pray most earnestly for the ""cause of vir- 
tue," and that it may be imitated by his 
own sons and by all the young men of the 
land, as it is so strikingly illustrated in the 
" personation of every public virtue" — i;i 
the character of him whom they are about 
to draw in triumph to the throne of power. 
Satisfied at length with this survey of the 
domestic institutions of their favorite can- 
didate, Jehoshaphat and his associates are 
entertained at the palace of Ahab. They 
fondly hope that some concession may be 
made to public opinion, and the spirit of 
the age, in the published sentiments of their 
friend and lavorite. The governor quotes 
his message to the legislature, and feels as- 
sured that as slavery was actually abolished 
by the Declaration of Independence, it 
must be terminated at no distant day. — 
Here he is flatly contradicted by the im- 
perious Ahab. " It is not true, (says he,) 
and I rejoice that it is not true, that either 
of the two great parties in this country has 
any design or aim at abolition. I should 
deeply lament it if it were true." At least, 
says the prince of Judah, I hope we may 
labor and pray for the extirpation of this 
anomaly under the very walls of the tem- 
ple of liberty in the district of Columbia. 

" I WOULD SUFFER THE TOUTURES OF THE 

i\Q,uisiTio.v (says the personation of all 
virtue) before I would si2;ii a bill having fur 
Us object the abolition of slaver ij in the dis- 
trict of Columbia, or in amj manner give 
countenance to the project." The governor 
meekly replies, " Let not the king say so. 
Allow us to discuss this subject, for while I 
myself am opposed to all jjolitical action, I 
think it may and ought to be discussed, and 
if our southern brethren do not choose to 
regard our moral suasion upon that subject, 
why then — then they can do just as they 
please." "Ay, but," says the dictator, "dis- 
cussion implies deliberation; deliberation 
is preliminary to action. The people of the 
North have no right to act upon the subject 
of southern slavery, and therefore they 
have no right to deliberate — no right to 
discuss."" On this subject I tell you gentle- 
men, one and all — mind your own busi- 
ness. The governor turns with a sigh to 
his associates and reads from the procla- 
mation, urging them to pray for " a spirit 
of Christian patriotism and forbearance," 



and still says we must go up to Ramoth Gil- 
ead — we must bow down to Dagon this once. 

Accordingly the governor, the priest, the 
deacon and the hundreds of Christians, 
hitch themselves in long order to the car of 
the OPPRESSOR, the duellist, the gambler 
and the DEB.iucHEE. He smiles most com- 
placently upon them, compliments them 
upon the noble magnanimity they display, 
in so easily overcoming the little sciuples 
o^ conscience, and the plain and solemn pro- 
hibitions of the word of God; that like the 
generous Jehoshaphat they are determined 
to go, whether the Lord says they should 
prosper or not. As they tug and sweat and 
pull and get all mixed in with»sweareis and 
drunkards and gamblers, on the great na- 
tional road, the governor still exhorts all 
earnestly to pray that " wealth and talents 
and learning may be properly directed." 

At length the car of Moloch is brought to 
the place of its destination. The heat and 
excitement of a long contest are concen- 
trated at the place of the future inaugura- 
tion. Partizans are urged almost to mad- 
ness in defence ol their favorite leaders. 
Insult is heaped upon insult. The party to 
which the governor and his associates be- 
long, have at their head a man who always 
repels an indignity." He can direct re- 
marks to the chair "intended as a deliberate 
offence" to a senator — he can write a chal- 
lenge, prescribe the etiquette of a field of 
blood, or direct the weapon of death to the 
heart of a fellow mortal. At length, in the 
phrenzy of excitement, the interests of the 
party demand the life of an opponent. In 
the private chamber there is Ahab art- 
fully and adroitly writing the challenge — 
the governor in the mean time, with minis- 
ters and deacons, praying "that/fl/e«/s and 
learning may be properly directed." — 
The challenge is sent and accepted, the 
day and the hour and the most deadly 
weapons agreed upon. The parties meet 
— the Lord sends a strong east wind, as if 
to give space for repentance, and twice 
turns aside the deadly aim. The third ef- 
fort at mutual murder is successful.. A 
young man is slain upon the high places of 
Israel — and in that blood flowing warm and 
Iree from the heart, the governor baptizes 
the robes of oflice and girds them upon his 
hero, and then priest and deacon and Chris- 
tian, all unite in praying for the " extension 
of the peaceful doctrines of the gospel." 
This may end the scene— shall I call it 
farce, with them? But there is one scene 
— one circle of objects to which I would 
call the solemn attention of every man in 



this land, as he writes the name of a duel- 
list upon his ballot. 

When the unfortunate Cilley was mur- 
dered, I well remember the sensation pro- 
duced by the talc of wo as it came Hying 
from city to city and at length reached his 
ill-starred family. A young, accomplished 
and pious wife, with a little group of tender 
children, await the mail from Washington 
for tidings from the husband and father. 
The strange hand upon the outside of the 
letter excites surprise and trepidation; with 
fear and trembling the fatal seal is broken: 
" Your husband is dead — lilled in a duel — 
he died nobly upon the field of honor, for- 
getful of God and you, that he might assure 
the woild that he dared to commit mur- 
der." The death of her husband she 
could by divine grace have borne, but his 
crime drove her to distraction — the chil- 
dren in terror stare at the wild horror of 
the mother — a look at her children re- 
doubles the streams of liery agony that play 
along every nerve and fibre of her whole 
he'insL. Such a scene might well arouse the 
whole State — the entire land. It did so. 
Every pulpit spoke out against duelling. 
But what good can we do to weep over the 
blood shed, and yet honor the men who 
iihed it.^ I am tired of this mode of deal- 
ing with the subject, and if the citizens of 
this and other States will go and deliber- 
ately vote fur a duellist for president — one 
who has acted upon the principles of re- 
venge all his days, and who yet deliberately 
avows them, then I say, when your fellow 
citizens are murdered at Washington, make 
no ado about it, ask for no sympathy, de- 
mand no retribution; but say like men, we 
chose a muiderer to shoot them if they did 
not behave according to his refined notions 
of propriety, and we sent them there to be 
shot if he thought best. Either make the 
tree corrupt and the fruit corrupt, or else 
let them be both good — let precept and ex- 
ample go together. It is in vain for us to 
preach against duelling, to lament its prev- 
alence, while our hearers go and vole fur 
duellists. I know it will be said that other 
important interests are at issue, and that 
these cannot be so well secured as by the 
selection of a slaveholder and a duellist. 

The interests of moraidij are the funda- 
mental interests of a nation. This govern- 
ment was constituted to establish justice and 
secure liberty. Can a man who lives vpon 
injustice, and practises oppression, and de- 
fends murder in his public speeches and by 
his example, promote /Hs/ice? That prince 
of statesmen, and most profound among 



those who have uttered their thousand 
proverbs, Edmund Burke, has said, "Per- 
mit me tor one moment to drop my repre- 
sentative character, and to speak only as a 
man of some experience in the world, and 
conversant with the affairs of men, and 
with the characters of men. I do then de- 
clare my conviction and wish it may stand 
recorded to posterity, that there never was 
a bad man that had ability for good service. 
It is not in the nature of such men; their 
minds are so distorted to selfish purposes, 
to artificial and crafty means for accom- 
plishing those selfish ends, that if put to 
good service they are poor, dull, helpless. 
They know nothing but how to pursue sel- 
fish ends bv indirect means. No man ever 
employed a bad man on account of his abil- 
ities, but for t'ri7 ends. There might be 
circumstances in which such a man might 
be used in a subordinate capacity. But 
who ever thought of putting such a man 
virtually in possession of the whole author- 
ity and revenues of the whole country.^" — 
(Works, Vol. 3, p. 359.) 

Yet such a suicidal act, I fear, this coun- 
try, with the aid and counsel of this State, 
is about to commit. In the language of 
the proclamation, I would urge the citizens 
to " take heed to their ways." In doing 
this so plainly and directly, I am well 
aware that I expose myself to the charge 
of deviating from the ordinary round of 
plaintive strains about xciihcd rulers and 
wicked people, that are piped forth upon 
the annual lasts. 

I ask no better authority, however, for 
this plain exhibition of the truth upon a 
most important subject, than the 33d chap- 
ter of Ezekiel: '' If the watchman see the 
sword come, and blow not the trumpet, 
and the people be not warned; if the sword 
come and take any person from among 
them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but 
his blood will I require at the iiatcliman's 
hands.'' 

I do, I think, clearly see that this nation, 
and I fear a majority of the people of this 
commonwealth, are about to commit not 
only a fault, but a crime, a crime against 
the slaves, against their country, and 
against God. I would solemnly and earn- 
estly warn those with whom I can have the 
least infiuence, not to do it. Would any 
citizen of this State take a half sheet of 
paper, and draw out upon it the symbols of 
slavery and duelling, and then write upon 
the bottom — " 1 appiove of both these prac- 
tices, with all the heart-rending cruelties 
connected with them;" and then sign his 



name, and publish it to the world as the 
•sentiments by which he would live and die? 
Yet the name of the man guilty of these 
crimes is an eqxnvulcnt lor the most signifi- 
cant emblems of them. Would you paint 
upon your ballot, a whip, a chain, fetters, 
handcuffs, a poor half starved slave, an 
auction block, an exposed female, an affec- 
tionate mother and child torn from each 
other, and then add to this picture the fac- 
simile of a challenge, the pistol or rifle, 
the measured distance, the cool, deliberate 
aim, the death bound of the victim, as he 
leaps into the air, his heart pierced with 
the bullet of his antagonist — could you 
take such a ballot in your hand, and de- 
posit it as ijotir suffrage — the suffrage of 
a freeman — the suffrage of a Chrislian'i 
Even a recent slaveholder, who only sees 
as yet some things in the twilight of his 
new existence — C. M. Clay — says: " I 
will go yet further, and declare, in the 
name of the Christian religion and our 
republican institutions, that no man, after 
the next presidential election, when so 
much light shall have been shed upon this 
subject, should be deemed fit to rule over 
a republican, Christian people, who shall 
violate, by holding slaves, the only two 
principles upon which either Christianity 
or republicanism can stand the test of 
philosophical scrutiny for a single hour." 

If that is said in the green tree, what 
ought to be done in the dry ^ If a son of a 
slaveholding State, himself a slaveholder 
till very recently, has come within four 
years of not voting for a slaveholder, where 
ought the citizens of this State to be ? And 
where ought the governor of this State to 
be, who says the declaration that "all 
men are free and equal," has been in 
practical operation in this State, ever 
since the adoption of the constitution. 
The elevation of that individual to the 
presidency, will be the pledge and the 
certain instrument of the introduction of 
the coveted "sister republic" of run- 
aways and assassins, and the extension 
of slavery and duelling over new ter- 
ritory for the s*ace of another hun- 
dred years. Massachusetts can prevent 
these impending evils. An opportunity 
now presents itself when this State can 
gain for itself a brighter crown of glory 
than she now wears from all her past 
jiistory. This is saying much, but not too 
much. I have deliberated upon what I 
affirm. I know the story of your past 
renown. I have traced every line of your 
history, from the day when the " wise men 



from the East " brought to the iron coast 
of Plymouth, the gold of their character 
and the frankincense of their religion, 
down to the day when you stretched the 
hands of sixty thousand freemen over the 
lonely, exiled Latimer. I know you have 
been first in war, first in peace, first in the 
respect which you receive from the civilized 
world. You have your orators and learned 
men, your jurists and divines; you have 
your asylums for every class of the afflict- 
ed; you have sent out your line of noble de- 
scent over every part of the land; wherever 
they have gone, the wilderness and the 
solitary places have been made glad for 
them. You have your silent monument.s 
resting upon the ashes of your heroes, and 
reminding you that to them liberty was 
dearer than life. 

When Bonaparte stood among the pyra- 
mids of the Nile, when his little band were 
hemmed in on every side, by the gleaming 
and thirsty spears of the fierce and terrible 
Mamelukes, four times excelling them in 
numbers, that sagacious leader pointed to 
the immense piles around him, and ex- 
claimed, " From the top of yonder pyra- 
mids, /or/y centuries are looking down upon 
you." The victory was speedy and com- 
plete. From the tops of yonder clouds 
that overhang this State, 1 can see the 
good of all ages and nations — the friends 
of humanity — of virtue and religion — the 
innumerable company of angels — looking 
down now, as if unable to enjoy the rest of 
heaven, upon the course of conduct this 
State is about to pursue. 

Massachusetts can deliver the blow this 
year by which slavery and duelling will be 
stunned, and under which they will wither 
and die: they will become twice dead, 
plucked up by the roots. I have as strong 
an attachment to life as most persons, — as 
many reasons why I should wish to live; but 
if the sacrifice of my life would bring out this 
State from the alliance of blood and cruelty, 
and put her in the front of the battle for 
freedom, I should deem it the richest 
purchase ever made, with a price so small. 
If conscious of flill preparation to meet the 
scenes of the future, I would not hesitate 
a moment to pour out every drop of my 
blood for the accomplishment of such an 
object. 

When the empire of the seas was to be 
decided by the action of an hour in the 
Bay of Trafalgar, Admiral Collingwood, 
in the Royal Sovereign, was in front of the 
van that broke the enemy's line of battle. 
" How nobly," exclaimed Nelson, "does 



that fellow bring his ship head down upon 
the enemy." If Massachusetts would lead 
down, not against the South, but against 
the slaveholdinfT, and the duelling, and the 
rices of the South, the empire of freedom 
and the palm of victory would soon be hers. 
IMaine would feel the blood of her relation- 
ship soon warming her bosom; Vermont, 
the descendants of Stark and Ethan Allen, 
have not forgotten who their fathers were; 
New Hampshire, hard to move, would in- 
evitably be drawn along; the great empire 
State would soon lay her giant hands upon 
the pillars of oppression; Ohio, with the 
strength of a young Hercules, would be all 
but first in the onset, and slavery would be 
"dwarfed" and dwindled; it would pine 
away and die; and liberty would be pro- 
claimed throughout the land unto all the 
inhabitants thereof. 

And now I solemnly put the question to 
every voter in this State, " Wilt thou help 
the ungodly .^" Will you, by voting for a 
slaveholder, vote that tliousands of men 
shall continue to be deprived of that very 
light which you are now exercising and 
which you esteem above price, the right of 
voting for your own rulers? God hath set 
the nations of the earth in famili^; and 
will you vote that one-sixth of the inhabit- 
ants of this land shall never be protected 
in these endearing relations? Think ol* 
your own fireside. Fix your eye upon the 



hour of evening prayer. Parents and 
children are gathered around the family 
Bible: — 

" The priest-like father reads the sacred page, 
How Abram was the friend of God on high. 

Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme ; 

How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed ; 
How he who bore in heaven the second name, 

Had not on earth whereon to lay his head ; 
Then kneeling down to heaven's eternal king, 

The saint, the father, and the husband prays. 
From scones like these [New England's] 

grandeur springs, 
And makes her loved at home, revered abroad." 

And will you vote that such scenes shall 
never be spread abroad over the South? 
They never can be while slavery is there. 
Will you look upon your son, and then 
vote to send the first born from the bosom 
of its mother? Will you open your Bible, 
the chart of eternity, and then vote that 
millions of immortal souls shall never read 
its pages? Will you go from week to 
week into the sanctuary, and then vote 
that millions shall have no fixed tabernacle 
nor ujinistering priest? \\ ill you go on in 
the path to heaven, and then bar up the 
way against the poor crushed slave? Will 
you carry that vote to the bar of God and 
present it among the evidence of your title 
to eternal life? "Inasmuch as ye did it 
not to one of Ihesc [poor siijjeving slaves] 
ye did it not to me." 



PROCIAMATIO.N 



FOR A 

DAY OF PUBLIC FASTING, HUMILIATION AND PRAYER. 
BY HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE N. BRIGGS, 

GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



The observance of days of public fasting 
and prayer has been sanctioned by our 
ancestors, from the earliest history of our 
commonwealth. 

Such a practice becomes dependent and 
sinful beings. Impressed with its fitness 
and importance, I do, with the advice and 
consent of the council, appoint THURS- 
DAY, THE FOURTH DAY OF APRIL 
NEXT, to be observed by the good people 
of this commonwealth as a dciy of Fast- 
ing, Humiliation and Prayer. I call 
upon all classes, and earnestly invite them, 
to abstain from their usual avocations, and 
from the indulgence in recreations and 
amusements, during the day. And I re- 
spectfully request the ministers of the gos- 
pel, and the people of the various religious 
denominations to which they belong, to 
meet in their several places of public Avor- 
ship, and sincerely devote themselves to 
the solemn and appropriate duties of such 
an occasion. 

Let us with one accord humbly approach 
the Supreme Ruler and Judge of heaven 
and earth; and whilst with contrition of 
soul, we acknowledge and confess our past 
sins and ingratitude, and implore their for- 
giveness " through the merits of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ," devoutly sup- 
plicate his merciful regard for the future. 

Let us pray to him that he would have 
compassion upon our infirmities, and deal 
kindly with us, as he did with our fathers 
in days that are past, that we may be so 
guided by the Holy Spirit, that " taking 
heed to our ways, we may apply our hearts 
unto wisdom;" that he would give us 
peace, health, and preserve to us our pre- 
cious institutions, and impart to us under- 
standing, from time to time, to make such 
improvements as may be best for us; that 
he would give us success and prosperity 
in all the branches of industry and busi- 



ness in which we are honestly engaged, 
upon the land and upon the sea; that 
wealth, and learning, and talents may be 
properly directed; and that labor may re- 
ceive its just reward; and the poor, the 
widow, and the fatherless, be remembered 
and visited in mercy; that a love of justice, 
moderation, and order, may pervade the 
hearts of our citizens; that Christians of 
all denominations may possess, in an emi- 
nent degree, the spirit of the Divine Mas- 
ter whose name they bear, and exhibit its 
fruits in works of honesty, charity, broth- 
erly kindness, and good will; that all the 
efforts which are making to extend the 
cause of human freedom, of virtue, and of 
temperance, to disseminate amongst the 
whole family of man the peaceful doctrines 
of the gospel of the Son of God, may meet 
the approbation and' receive the favor of 
our Father in heaven. 

Let us invoke the blessing of God upon 
the people of all the States of this great 
Union, and pray that he would give them 
a spirit of Christian patriotism and forbear- 
ance, and inspire their hearts with a re- 
spect and reverence for the constitution 
made by their fathers, and under which 
they have so long prospered, and so direct 
their ways, that their best interests, honor, 
and happiness, may be permanently pro- 
moted, by their continuing to be free and 
United States. 

Given at the Council Chamber in Boston, 
this tirst day of March, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-four, and of the independence 
of the United States the sixty-eighth. 
GEORGE N. BRIGGS. 
By His Excellency the Governor, with the 
advice and consent of the Council. 

John G. Palfrey, Secretary. 

God save the commomvealih of Massachusetts ! 



PRINTED BY LEAVITT & ALDEN, 7 CORNHILL, BOSTON PRICE, $1 PER 100. 



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